Behind-The-Scenes With Yigit Pura At A Tout Sweet Tasting

Grid View

• With that smile, it's no surprise Pura's not out of the TV game. He'll continue to comment on The Cooking Channel's Unique Sweets, and he's got "something new" brewing for Bravo.
• Pura finishes pâte de fruit with sprinkled sugar.
• On the day of the tasting, the pastry staff has been with Pura in the kitchen since 5 a.m. assembling desserts.
• Garnishing a personal size "Fifth Element" dessert
• The Fifth Element layers white chocolate-tea mousse and raspberry creme with vanilla cake and raspberries. It's finished with 24K gold leaf.
• A sweet moment with sous chef Melissa Davidson
• "Yigit has touched every single pastry in here," remarked GM Jessica Rohrig as the tasting kicked off.
• From left: operations manager Steve Chang, prep chef Hugo Peralta, sous chef Melissa Davidson, Yigit Pura, prep chef Dionicia Ortega
• The front of house staff arrives for the training and tasting session.
• Pura breaks down The Fifth Element dessert with a diagram.
• GM Jessica Rohrig and the entire staff kicked things off by saying what they are grateful and happy for.
• Clockwise from left: Tesla tart, "Tout Sweet" chocolate cake, the tip of "Monster Paws" (in honor of Lady Gaga), liege waffles, savory gougere, Nutella-filled brioche, St. Honoré éclair puffs, and a "Paris" verrine in the center

It's officially crunch time for the the first full-blown patisserie from the pastry chef America watched win Season 1 of Top Chef: Just Desserts. Leading into the September 8 opening of Tout Sweet Patisserie, pastry chef/ golden boy Yigit Pura let Eater in on the behind-the-scenes of an early tasting session with his staff. Above, watch Pura assemble his signature desserts with his chef crew, then drill his entire front-of-house staff on the nitty gritty of each sweet.

Naturally, Pura is firing on all cylinders to make sure everything is wedding cake perfect for opening day, but he still finds time to smile and pass on some inspiration ("frosting is not a word," "Soggy meringue is never sexy") and smiles to his staff. Take a look through the extesive photo gallery above, which includes additional words of wisdom, dessert descriptions, teasers about Pura's future on television, and more.

· All Tout Sweet Patisserie Coverage [~ ESF ~]